BRATTLEBORO — Estey Organ Museum sponsors a tour of Brattleboro Estey pipe organs on Saturday, May 17. Area organists will demonstrate each playable organ and explain each instrument's distinctive features.
The tour starts at 1 p.m. at First United Methodist Church on Putney Road. From there stops include:
• 1:25 p.m., First Church of Christ, Scientist, 57 Putney Rd.
• 1:45 p.m., Brattleboro Elks Lodge, 75 Putney Rd.
• 2:15 p.m., St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, 47 Walnut St.
• 3 p.m., The Stone Church, corner of Grove and Main streets.
• 3:15 p.m., Brattleboro Masonic Lodge, 196 Main St.
• 3:45 p.m., First Baptist Church of Brattleboro, 190 Main St.
The tour culminates in a visit to the Estey Organ Museum, 108 Birge St., at 4:30 p.m., where refreshments will be served.
For many years the Estey Company offered any church in Brattleboro a pipe organ at cost. Many of those organs remain, though most have been modified.
Estey Opus No. 1 (1901) stands at United Methodist Church, having been moved from the church's original location on Elliot Street. St. Michael's Episcopal Church and Centre Congregational Church have disposed of their Esteys.
The museum has on display two Estey pipe organs - one from Alabama and the other from Hinsdale, N.H.
Estey Organ Company played a played a major economic role in the life of Windham County for more than 100 years. In that time, the company manufactured some 520,000 reed organs, which were shipped all around the world, and some 3,200 pipe organs, shipped mostly domestically.
During the late 1950s, the company even manufactured electronic organs.
According to information furnished by the museum, with as many as 500 people on the payroll Estey made possible many active roles in churches, lodge halls, and political activities of Vermont.
Formed in 2002 to celebrate the unique contributions of its namesake company, the Estey Organ Museum, at 108 Birge St., preserves and exhibits a variety of the company's musical instruments, publishes email and print newsletters, and sponsors a variety of programs recalling the unique contributions of this company.